Hearts

Hearts are funny things. They fall in love. They break. They feel joy. They are cut out of construction paper for Valentine's Day. They can be given away. They can be so full they overflow.

My heart is full. I am so grateful for the support that is being shown to our family and to Min. I am so grateful for the donations that have been given to expedite Min's adoption. I am so grateful for the people who have passed along our fundraiser. I am so grateful for the prayers that have been offered up in Min's behalf. In the last week, I have felt my heart expand and it has been an amazing experience. We are half way through our 10-10-10 fundraiser that ends on Friday. We have asked people for a donation of $10 and to pass the word along. So far we have raised $1560!!! And we have next week to go:) Thank you for being a part of this. It has meant the world to us.

Min has a heart that is quite literally broken. Beyond the issues that she is likely to have from being in an orphanage for the formative years of her life, her heart does not function properly and the survival rates for the defect she has goes down by the year. In some ways the fact that she has grown and developed means that her heart has sustained that, which is a good thing. But in some ways the fact that it has gone on for so long without repair means that the possibility of heart and lung damage increases by the month.

She has tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia. This is on the severe end of the TOF spectrum.

Tetralogy of Fallot is a heart defect that features four problems.

* a hole between the lower chambers of the heart
* an obstruction from the heart to the lungs
* The aorta (blood vessel) lies over the hole in the lower chambers
* The muscle surrounding the lower right chamber becomes thickened
On top of that she has this as well:
Pulmonary atresia is a rare congenital heart disease where the pulmonary valve doesn't form correctly. This valve is an opening in the right side of the heart that lets the blood move into the lungs. A sheet of tissue forms where the valve opening should be; so the blood from the right side of the heart cannot go to the lungs to pick up oxygen.


If she had been born in the US she would have had surgery as a baby. She will have surgery when she enters the US, as long as there isn't too much damage done to her heart and lungs. We are determined to bring her home as soon as possible. Thank you for helping us in this. You have a special place in our hearts.